Bets
by Taryo88
Summary: A little mischef raised by the naiads, dryads, and satyrs during tough times.


**Author's Note:**How's it going? Good? That's great! Well, this is a little one-shot, fluff piece that my neighbor and I came up with one day about Grover and the satyrs. I hope you like it. It didn't really turn out the way I wanted, but...oh well. FYI, this takes place between Battle of the Labyrinth and Last Olympian. Review and what not. Thanks.

**Disclaimer: **I still do not own Percy Jackson. Rick Riordan does.

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The table was set. Grover was standing by a large round table laden with enchiladas, Cheese-Wiz, and tin cans in the forest of Camp Half-Blood just a little ways away from the field where the Counsel of Cloven Elders met. That place had held bad memories for Grover ever since the counsel had tried to vote him into exile about six months ago, but he had learned not to be afraid of those old goats ever since he had gained the late god Pan's blessing.

Grover's mind was pulled out of its wandering when a beautiful girl in a gossamer dress came up from behind him and gripped his hand. Girl wasn't really the correct term for her, she was technically a wood nymph, but she was just as pretty as any mortal, if not more so with her chlorophyll tinted skin and kind smile which always seemed to make Grover grin like a fool.

"Hey Juniper! Where is every one else?"

"Oh, don't worry, they're coming." She giggled, "This is going to be so much fun!"

"I hope Percy doesn't find out." Grover muttered worriedly, thinking of how much his best friend would hate what Grover and the other wood spirits were about to do and, more importantly, that he hadn't been invited.

Juniper just giggled again, "Don't worry about it you silly satyr, he won't find out!"

Grover hoped she was right, and was just about to voice this opinion when their clearing started to fill with more excited satyrs, dryads, and naiads. Grover and Juniper lead them over to the table and pulled out a tin collection box and a pad of paper. Juniper put on a tinted pink visor, and they got down to business, Grover standing up nervously.

"As you all know, the Battle of the Labyrinth was just fought, and it is our jobs as protectors of these woods and this camp to keep the camper's spirits up!" As Grover spoke these words, a cheer ripped through their woodland group, carrying some of Grover's nerves away with it as the sound was carried over the trees in the wind. He cracked a smile as he continued, "We have gathered here today to make predictions and decide how to get the other campers into better spirits!"

"I say we start with the bets!" Yelled a naiad from the left of the table.

"Yes, that's a great idea Brooke!" Juniper gushed, "We will start with the bets!"

Grover sighed. The nymphs always found the bets to be the most interesting part of these meetings because they were able to gossip and were basically given permission to meddle in the lives of the poor unsuspecting demigods. It wasn't like they got much else done after the bets anyway. These meetings used to be annual and actually helpful, but now they were just crude gambling sessions. Grover didn't mind though. It was helping calm the wood spirits and get their minds off the upcoming war even if it didn't help the rest of the campers.

"Alright, who wants to make the first bet?"

"I bet ten drachmas that Katie Gardner and Travis Stoll will be together before the end of the war." A wood nymph yelled from Grover's right. There were some murmurs in agreement while others snorted in disgust, but regardless, Grover collected the payment and Juniper wrote down the bet on the note pad.

Then a satyr shouted from in front of Grover, "I bet it will take at least two months before Chiron realizes that we replaced his Dean Martin albums with 'Lil Wayne CDs!", causing a few sniggers from the satyrs around him.

The meeting carried on in this manner for another hour, with satyrs and nature spirits calling out bets that ranged from-"I bet Mr. D will turn at least two campers into dolphins this summer."-To-"I bet five drachmas that Clarisse will put more than ten kids in the infirmary before Will Solace reaches five foot!"

Grover absent-mindedly accepted the bets, organizing his collection box as he went, until one soft-spoken dryad said something that threw everyone into a frenzy.

"I bet twenty drachmas that Percy and Annabeth will get together before he turns sixteen."

Everyone around the table seemed to be holding their breath. The silence lasted a long time, stretching out into the forest like an inflating balloon, and then, the balloon popped.

Everyone started talking at once, yelling counter bets across the table and throwing money at Grover. Tin cans were flying and one poor nymph had somehow gotten a face full of extra cheesy enchiladas before Juniper was able to call everyone to order. Once she had them settled down, she surprised everyone by making a bet herself.

"I bet thirty drachmas that Percy and Annabeth will start going out on Percy's sixteenth birthday, the day his is prophesied to save or destroy Olympus." As she said it, Grover was surprised at her confidence in such a specific bet, and wondered why she seemed so sure.

He was saved from asking, however, when another satyr called the same question from somewhere in the crowd.

Juniper just shrugged, but she had a small, mischievous smile on her face that made Grover think she was spending too much time with Percy.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today," Grover decided, "We will meet again to discuss these bets at the end of next summer."

~•¥•~

The next time the group met, was surprisingly like the last despite how much had changed. The war was over, and Grover couldn't help but feel terrible about how many lives they had lost. They may have won, but he still wished there had been a way to do so without having so many casualties. Percy had tried to cheer him up by reminding him that they hadn't lost that many in comparison to the devastation they caused among Kronos's monsters, but even those odds hasn't cheered the satyr up too much. He had called this meeting to try and get his mind off of it. It wasn't working yet.

When Grover finally got the others settled, he decided the first order – and really only order - of business should be the bets. He read over the note pad that had all the bets written in Juniper's neat hand writing, laughing over the ones that were completely wrong and staring slightly stunned at the ones that were spot on.

He was reading the bets out loud but paused when he reached the last one.

"'I bet thirty drachmas that Percy and Annabeth will start going out on Percy's sixteenth birthday, the day his is prophesied to save or destroy Olympus.'" He quoted before turning to stare wide eyed at Juniper who was helping herself to the wide range of winnings she had earned from beating out all those other bets about Percy and Annabeth.

"How did you know?" Grover asked incredulously.

Juniper turned calmly, a delighted expression on her face, and looked into his eyes, "Tree's intuition." She said mysteriously before shrugging and skipping off towards the camp store with her newly won drachmas spilling out of her arms.


End file.
